Clinton County cities are working to keep visitors coming back after two major festivals recently drew thousands to the area.
The St. Johns Mint Festival and DeWitt’s Ox Roast attracted tens of thousands of visitors to Clinton County. Both cities are planning fall events to maintain community engagement and tourism. St. Johns is inviting influencers to experience the city next month.
WATCH: Clinton County cities build on summer festival success with fall events
Clinton County cities work to maintain tourism momentum after successful summer festivals
The Mint Festival in St. Johns and the Ox Roast in DeWitt brought thousands of visitors to Clinton County over the past two weekends. Now that these popular summer events have concluded, both cities are implementing strategies to maintain visitor interest through the fall season.
“It doesn’t just bring awareness to the people that live in St. Johns, it also brings awareness to people from the surrounding communities about all the things we have going on in downtown St. Johns and the surrounding areas,” Heather Hanover said.
Hanover, who owns Hanover’s Chocolates and serves as Downtown Executive Director in St. Johns, explained that the city has several upcoming events planned to maintain momentum.
“In September, we’re gonna have two big events. We have the Mint City motorcycle show. That’s the first time we’re ever gonna have that. There’s gonna be 500 motorcycles. And then we’re having the harvest festival,” Hanover said.
DeWitt is taking a similar approach to keeping community engagement high throughout the year.
“We feel it’s important to have that momentum throughout the year, so we do a number of events throughout the year,” said Loretta Spinrad, DeWitt Chamber of Commerce President.
Spinrad noted that DeWitt’s upcoming trick-or-treat trail and costume contest are designed to appeal to residents of all ages and maintain excitement in the community.
Beyond hosting events, St. Johns is also leveraging social media to attract visitors. Next month, the chamber of commerce will invite influencers to experience what the city has to offer.
“I think then they’ll be able to see what we have going on in St. Johns and bring more people to our businesses and restaurants and hotels and those sort of things,” Hanover said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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